The Perfection

“Play the Perfection” I breathe in deep and hit the demo button on my Casio keyboard. Wake me up before you Go-Go. I’ve never once sat there listening to a cellist and assumed they were not trained by middle aged sex pests. Movie has no faith in it’s own schlock narrative it has to keep rewinding back to moments to explain its nonsense.

They cast Steve Weber when William Fichtner isn't available, and they'd cast William Fichtner if Richard E Grant wasn't available

Came for THE PERFECTION. Stayed for the gore. Breathtakingly stupid. Decently stylish and enjoyable.

Clearly a woman empowerment revenge flick directed by a man, but it is somehow amazing how good it starts -- as a frenzy spoof on Asian paranoid horrors and 90s pulp stuff -- and how bad it ends -- a gory TV show with no style (come on, only De Palma can pull off those wide close-ups and ACTUALLY build something around them). Either way, these two leads are so great they almost win us over so many silly plot twists and boring, "smart" "oh, wait, let's rewind it so it seems cooler" devices.

Unbelievably awful.

The F did I just watch? It started off promising enough, but it lasted all of 10 minutes before it spiralled into a crazy, over the top and zany film. The two leads keep you interested and each new segment is a great reveal, that gives you hope for a great new direction that the story is going to take, but ultimately it's like watching reruns, because it all ends in complete madness, culminating in the biggest WTF moment.

Wannabe trash that somewhat succeeds in surprising in the beginning... until it turns into a MadTv version of Park's The Handmaiden.

(THAT CELLO BASTARD)

Absolutely solid first half, but the film lost momentum after that. Instead of explaining the obvious via awkward flashbacks, the movie should have focused more on the characters and their background. Nonetheless, it is a topical film. Abuse may be difficult to see or admit. Sometimes drastic measures are needed to end it.

If "Black Swan" dropped half the pretentiousness, and only aspired to be a revenge thriller, you'd be left with "The Perfection", which is still not exactly what I would refer to as thrilling entertainment. But I am a sucker for satisfying gore, and I got a little of that, so I'm not complaining too much.

This was a fun surprise, though there is plenty that does not work. It's weirdly a cross between The Handmaiden, Grand Piano, and some straight up sleaze. The script pulls off the odd balancing act of going in wild directions while remaining entirely predictable. It's about to go in an interesting direction both times it rewinds and cops out. I think this would work well if the dialogue were delivered in a purposely unnatural way a la Yorgos Lanthimos.

A surprisingly fun and original movie, and a strong statement against letting ourselves be subjugated to the whims of sociopaths and the culture of people having unwarranted power over one another - either in relationships or at the workplace. It's a shame the storytelling had to resort to hacky flashbacks though.

This film sabotages its ending in a really egregious manner by staging a climax that involves characters standing and shouting the subtext at the audience like we're just too stupid to get the point of it all. The problem is compounded by the fact that what has been a pretty artfully executed film descends into dumb, awkward bloodshed as if all the energy has been redirected into telling us what we already know about the film's major themes.

Last act felt like a grade school teacher was explaining the answer of a test to me when I already got it right. Bummer because I was having fun in the beginning but the devices are overused with a weak story line.

Sometimes pulpy just to be pulpy, Perfection is, no doubt, a gorgeous looking film. It twists and turns enough to keep you on your toes, but the ultimate plot line is pretty simple and lurid. Do you like split diopter shots? Do I have a recommendation for you.

61.3

Horrendous.

Was enjoying the start more when it was going to be this survival movie with pre covid sickness overtones.

Who wouldn't want such a good friend like Charlotte (Williams)? She did all those things for her friend's sake. So touchy(!) Seriously, I am confused who is the main villain here? Easily could be the dumbest movie of all time.

An intense and shocking at times horror/thriller.

could have been so much better

Anything that does this level of genre-switching is something I'm on board with

There's certainly a lot of twists and rewinding of a plot if that's your thing. Moves briskly which I like in horror but lacks any like REAL tension tbh

There are a number of twists along the way, most of which can be seen coming, but The Perfection is otherwise quite a deliciously grisly yet fun thriller. Not one for the squeamish, that's for sure.

A silly over the top nonsense revenge fantasy written by children.

4????

Had me repeatdly not knowing what was gonna happen which is kinda rare for a movie nowadays so despite the slightly unbelievable plot I really enjoyed this movie

Cheesy but fun.

this man really shouldn't inflict any more of his "genius" on the unsuspecting public.

A very unpleasant story constantly told in such a way that you can't help but think it's more awful than it is except that they're manipulating you with the storytelling. Making everything thoroughly disgusting is their answer to make up for the faults and that was like pouring sewage onto a dumpster fire. I didn't like this. Reminded me of Revenge and Wolf Creek in that I would've very much enjoyed turning it off.

The first act has glimpses of masterful innovation but ultimately it settles into the well-trod genre of revenge grindhouse. That said, it's a well acted and beautifully shot piece. It makes one think of Tarantino in his early days, when he wasn't just making period pieces, but actually offered something fresh as a filmmaker. Still, this is very much a genre film and is thereby limited by genre conventions. It's disappointing because it could have been so much more.

The plot gets a little too silly at times, but it's a fun thrill-ride with more split diopter shots than I've seen in all other 2019 films combined.

finger lickin' average

Fingersmiths.

There was some potential here- they should have worked the abusive cult to a sort of cosmic horror thing a little more

The irony of this being produced by Harvey Weinstein's old company. Doesn't quite manage the leap from stylish psychodrama to bloody pulp, but it certainly goes for it.

This movie is all kinds of messed up, but it's made very, very well. The narrative seems to purposefully want to discombobulate the system, since it plays things backwards often, but the performances are really good, and the thoughtful direction when it came to how it looks and sounds is often impressive.

Don't believe the exaggerated statements concerning this film. Just watch it!

The first half hour or so is fantastic, and then the plot takes multiple sharp turns and beds itself in a cello academy with a dark secret. Some stuff had me guessing, other stuff I could see coming. The movie ends up explaining itself too much. It would have benefitted from more of an overall mystery. That final scene had me belly laughing. I have complicated feelings, but I liked it.

A good story that ended up getting way too weird and not in a good way.

Abysmal